A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM
by Kirbysbabe
Summary: Hanley and the squad get help from a little girl.


Copyright: 06/2014_ _

_Fan-Fiction based on TV Show Combat! Copyright Selmur Production, Inc, ABC, Image Productions etc._

_Disclaimer: Combat! and its characters do not belong to me, t__his WWII story is a piece of fan-fiction__ and I am not being compensated in any tangible way for this story._

AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

September 22, 1944

Sweetheart,

I hope you can read this letter. My handwriting ain't the greatest right now. I am at Battalion Aid. Now don't go all crazy. I was hit in my left arm and the doctor said I am going to be fine. You know me, nothing is going to keep me down for long.

I am sending you this letter because I know you'll understand. I need tell somebody. I can't write my Ma. I don't like tell her anything that might upset her. I always tell her that everything is great over here. I tell her that we get enough rest, plenty of hot chow and we sleep in cots most nights and when we don't, it's more like a campout. I don't know if she believes me but maybe it will help her sleep at night. I guess that will makes at least one of us.

It's been really bad here but I'm sure you already know that, with all the injured soldiers you must see every day. We were in a firefight on the 14th. Our squad got beat up pretty badly. Littlejohn and Caje both caught shrapnel in their legs. Sarge was shot in the shoulder. They are doing okay. I can see Sarge and Littlejohn from my bed and Caje is in the bed next to me. They'll be getting out soon.

We have a new guy in the squad. His name is Sawyer, he's a pretty nice guy. He is almost as big as Litlejohn and he's built more like an athlete. Boy can he run. His parents had a funny since of humor. They named him Thomas, you know, like Tom Sawyer, funny right? Four days ago we had to go on a little hike. Lieutenant Hanley took Billy, Doc, Sawyer and me. Anyway, it was supposed to be an easy recon. We were going to check around a little town which you know I can't say because Mr. Snippets will cut it out anyway. It was just a little go see, look around and see what the Krauts were up to and then report back. It should have been simple but I should have known better.

We got near the town and everything was going fine. We were sneaking around like always. S-2 had told Lt. Hanley they needed to know what was in the town. Heck, I could have told S-2 what we were going to find there; a lot of Germans with a lot of panzer tanks.

Everything was going along pretty smoothly. We started back and that's when someone saw us. They opened up on us. God Laura, I haven't been that scared since I Omaha Beach. We were running and gunning and it felt like the whole damn Germany Army was after us. We just kept running. I thought my lungs were going to burst wide open. The lieutenant told us to go on and he would try to hold them off with some grenades. I know this will sound crazy but I said I'd stay and help. Then Billy, Sawyer and Doc stopped and the four of us began firing again. We just couldn't leave him. He started yelling at us to leave. Doc said we started out together and if it was to be, we would die together. To be honest honey, I wasn't thinking in that direction at all. It just seem to me that it would be better if I stayed with Hanley until we could make a break.

We all got up again and began running and that's when we all saw her. She just stood there in the middle of all this fighting. The trees had blocked out any kind of light. There was darkness all around except where she stood. I know you're going to think I have had too many drugs but I swear the sun was shining down on her like a halo. She was so pretty. Doc said she looked like a little angel. She was smiling and motioning us to follow her. She had blue knitted cap on her head but you could see small strands of her hair poking out. It was blonde, almost white. We looked at the lieutenant and he nodded. She took us deeper into a wooded area. For the first time in over an hour we couldn't hear anyone following us. She turned to us for the first time and asked us if we were Americans. We were so surprised, she sounded like a Brit. Lt. Hanley asked who she was and where she was taking us. She said her name was Elise and she was taking us to see her Mother and she could help us.

Doc asked her how an English girl got here. She giggled and said that she lived for the first five years of her short life in England. Her mother was English and her father was Dutch. She considers herself Dutch and she is very proud of that fact.

When the war broke out her father thought it would be better if they went back to the Netherlands. He thought they would be safer because the Netherlands would stay neutral. Later that day when we were alone, Billy said that listening to her talk about the war was like listening to an adult. Doc said she might be a little girl but emotionally she was as old as we were. Elise had seen a lot of bad things ten year olds should never see.

Elise was shaking her head as she walked towards me. She pulled out a scarf from her pocket. I had been hit and I hadn't notice. I guess I was running on adrenaline and a lot of fear. She started to wrap my wound with her scarf and I stopped her. She told me it must be bandaged and Doc told her that it was his job and he had bandages and he didn't want her to ruin her pretty scarf.

Doc said I was lucky, the bullet went all the way through. Once I was fixed up she told us that it wasn't much further to her Mother's home. For some reason, she took a real shine to the lieutenant and Doc. She took their hands and began skipping along like we were on a picnic or something. We walked about a quarter of a mile and we came upon this huge house or at least that's what we thought it was. Elise opened the gate. The grounds were covered with statues. We figured the kid's family must have been very well-off before the war. The grounds must have been beautiful at one time but now everything was overgrown. Elise took us to some steps that led down into a basement. She told us to wait there and she would be back soon with her Mother.

It wasn't more than ten minutes when she brought her Mother to meet us except it wasn't really her Mother. She was the Mother Superior. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The kid had brought us to a convent. Mother Superior said that the house and the grounds belonged to some rich guy and when he died he left the house to the nuns.

The nuns had taken in kids who had become orphans from the war. There were about twenty or so kids living there.

Mother Superior told us that we were cut off. There wasn't any way for us to get back home. The Germans had been there already and had searched the convent so we were safe but they would be back. She said they had helped many soldiers. Mother Superior said that they had the perfect place for us to hide. No one had ever found the other soldiers she had hidden. She told us we had to wait until it got darker and one of the other sisters would take us to the hiding place.

I'll tell you one thing Laura, if there had been nuns like that when I was growing up maybe I wouldn't have skipped going to church. They were the kindest ladies I've ever met. They brought us hot food, blankets and bedrolls. Mother Superior even brought down some warm water so Doc could wash my wound.

About 9 o'clock a sister named Madeleine came to get us. She told us that we would be hiding in a place where no one would ever think to look for us. We couldn't figure out where that could be because the Krauts always seem to find out where you were hiding.

We picked up our bedrolls and blankets and headed out. Boy, I don't know who was more surprised when we saw Elise. At first we thought she was just coming to say goodbye but she was going with us. You could tell that the lieutenant wasn't very happy about it. He was concerned that Elise might get hurt. Lt. Hanley asked Sister if it was really necessary for Elise to come along with us.

Before Sr. Madeleine could answer, Elise patted the lieutenant's arm and told him not to worry. She put on a sad face and began to cry. Doc bent down to comfort her. Doc told her not to cry and explained we weren't mad, we just didn't want her to get hurt. She looked up at Doc, her eyes all wet from her tears and she broke out into a huge smile. She told us that she was a good actress and after that performance I think the lieutenant believed her.

Sister explained that if the Germans stop them, Elise would tell them that she had gotten lost and sister went out looking for her. Sr. Madeline told us that the children all have different stories. They had done this before and the Germans never caught on. They always believe them. I guess they figure the nuns and the kids who live with the nuns are not going to lie.

Sept. 23

Sorry honey. I had to stop writing my arm started to hurt a little. Like I said, I'm okay. I just used my arm too much yesterday.

Where was I? Oh yea, when we started out that morning, the day had been pretty cool. That night it was really dark, clouds had moved in and had blocked out the moon and the stars. I don't think any of us knew what direction we were going we just followed the sister.

We hadn't been walking very long when the sister fell. Her foot got tangled up in the root of a tree. She sprained her ankle pretty badly.

Elise told sister she would lead us there. The lieutenant said no way, just tell us where to go and we would find it. Elise said she could find the place blindfolded and Sister explained that we would never find it on our own. There wasn't a choice in the matter, Elise would have to lead us there. The Sister would wait for Elise there.

Hanley knew she was right but he hated using the little girl. We walked about twenty minutes and came upon an area that was thick with trees and very tall bushes we wouldn't have found the place in a million years.

Elise stood in front of the bushes for a minute. We could tell she was looking for something, we just didn't know what it was. The lieutenant asked if he could help her. She asked him if he could lift her up. Finally she asked Hanley to put her down. She motioned to Billy and Sawyer to pull open some bushes. Behind all those bushes were some railroad tracks. They didn't lead anywhere. Elise explained that it was a private line it used to be connected to the railroad line. The rich guy must have travelled in style, he had his own coach. The coach was long gone but there was a boxcar that was going to be our home for the night. If you didn't know it was there you'd never find it. The bushes completely surrounded the boxcar. As she was leaving she told us that someone would be back before daybreak, so be on the lookout for them.

When we got inside the boxcar, we cracked up at the furnishings. The Elise and the other kids had tried to fix it up a bit. They had painted a picture of a window. They even drew flowers on the walls. There were also four chairs and a couple of rugs on the floor, very homey.

Lt. Hanley set up sentry duty, I was up first. The lieutenant asked me if I could handle Bertha. I told him right now I probably could but later on if my arm stiffened up, I wouldn't be so sure. He made me trade with Billy. So I stood sentry with a pea shooter.

Just like Elise said, around daybreak two nuns came to the boxcar. They had brought us some water, bread, sausage and cheese. We felt bad about taking their food, we knew they probably didn't have much but they insisted.

One of the nuns told us that the Resistance would be coming that night to help us get back to our lines.

Around 11 pm we heard a noise. It was Elise, she was completely out of breath. She had run all the way. Elise was crying for real, this time, she was scared for us. She told us that we had to get out right away the Krauts had found out where we were hiding. Like I said, the Krauts always find out. She told us that a new boy had followed the nuns that morning. He traded the information for food. We couldn't blame the kid, he was probably was starving. Elise said they were about fifteen minutes behind her.

Elise handed the lieutenant a note. Hanley asked if she knew what was in the note. Elise shook her head yes. The kid told the Krauts that Elise had been hiding us. He kept the nuns out of it. Mother Superior asked the lieutenant to take Elise with us. What was he going to do? Hanley really didn't have a choice, he told her that she couldn't go back to the convent that the Germans would take her away.

Elise told us that we had to hurry, she would take us to meet up with the Resistance but they would only be there for a short time.

I didn't want to tell anyone my arm was killing me and that I was running a fever. Doc noticed that I hadn't said much and I guess he knew that wasn't like me. He lit a match for a second and that's all it took. He asked me if I knew how long I had I been running a fever. I told him I really didn't know but it was it more than two hours. Doc gave me some aspirin. I was hoping it would help.

We left the boxcar and started running again. Elise couldn't keep up so Sawyer picked her up and ran with her. I was actually jealous of the kid. I was so sick it felt like we had run ten miles but Doc said it was only a mile. If I had to go any further, I don't think I would have made it.

The men were getting ready to leave when we got there. They said that a plane was flying in with supplies for them and we were going to fly back with him.

We had to run another mile and that's when I collapsed. The lieutenant took Elise from Sawyer. Sawyer picked me up as if I weighed the same as Elise. I was never so happy in my life. I was going to tell them just to leave me behind.

The men heard the plane and set out the signal. The plane landed and I had never seen such organization in my life they had all the supplies off the plane within minutes. We thanked the men and got on the plane. We were back in the air within 15 minutes. It seemed like we were up in the air for only a few minutes and we were getting ready to land on an Allied airfield a few minutes after that. We thanked the pilot. What he does takes a lot of nerve. You fly into the enemy's territory with a small plane, pray no one sees you and then you land. You then wait around until everything is unloaded, then you take off and hope no one shoots you. That guy is a hero.

We got a ride back home and Doc deposited me at Battalion Aid. He also asked the doctor if Elise could stay there for the night. She tried to be brave but when I woke up the next morning, she had pulled her cot near mine. When Doc came in to see all of us she went with him like she was his assistant, it was kind of sweet.

I guess Hanley made a few calls because he stopped by to see us and had a long talk with Elise. He arranged for her to go to England and to a convent school there. She seemed happy about going, she hugged him. I have a feeling there is more to this story besides him arranging and paying for everything. I think he is going to find a way to bring her back to the U.S. but he doesn't talk about his life and I am not going to ask him, I want to live. Besides I want to marry a certain nurse, get back to Chicago and have some kids. How does six sound to you?

I love you and hope we can see each other soon.

Your lonely soldier,

Kirby

**Part of the story about the squad hiding in a boxcar is a true story. My father and four other soldiers during The Battle of the Bulge were cut off when they were out on a recon. They were in Holland and some nuns from a convent helped them hide, fed them and kept them from freezing to death until the Germans moved on. My dad has always told me that the people in Holland were the kindest people he ever met. **


End file.
